Will Ben Stokes be the greatest cricketer of all time?

Feeling depressed about politics? I hope not. Politicians don’t shape the world: they are the furniture movers, not the furniture makers. It is inventors, scientists, philosophers, craftsmen, artists and poets who influence our lives. And sports people of course. Which means it’s time to think about Ben Stokes again. The Test Match Special lunchtime guest on the Saturday of the Headingley Test was Joe Simpson, ace climber and cricket-lover, and author of the epic Touching the Void. There’s not much Joe doesn’t know about coming back from the dead, and some of it must have rubbed off on Stokes.

The most extraordinary moment of that extraordinary innings came when Stokes reached his century. After hours of exhausting work, iron discipline and concentration, he barely celebrated. No bat-raising, helmet-lifting or exultant leaps in the air. A very cursory acknowledgement, perhaps, as he waved away Jack Leach who was coming to congratulate him. The work wasn’t over, Stokes was saying. This is about the team, not me, and there is more to do. Paradoxically of course, with just a couple of runs needed, he decided to go for broke, missed a massive sweep and would have been the most plumb of plumb lbws had the Australians not wasted their reviews.

Does this mean Stokes will be the greatest of all time? The comparisons with Ian Botham are interesting. Both men are fond of drinking and fighting, and maybe one or two other things in their youth. But Stokes’s work ethic is astonishing, whereas Beefy’s was practically nonexistent. So what makes a champion? Here is England fast bowler Mark Wood, talking to the BBC: ‘On a typical day I’ll do my bowling and then have about 20 minutes in the nets.